Current State of Rimworld

[HammyTheHamster]

Hi Chaps,

So I began playing Rimworld way back in the days of the first public Alpha, had a huge amount of fun with it and spent a lot of time playing right through to Alpha 9 (or thereabouts).

I loved the game, evidenced by the amount of time I spent playing, but there were elements I was left unsatisfied by. Most of all this was the continual wind-up in the storyteller's efforts to stamp your colony out, with raids getting bigger and bigger beyond all reason until you get fed up or lose.

What I think I really wanted was a more refined experience than just "survive the waves" type battle. I loved the challenge of building up a colony from scratch into a habitable settlement, overcoming difficulties and violence along the way. But once you got to that late-game scenario there was no new/different challenge. I think I was hoping for a colony development in the same vein as Banished, you begin fairly rural and hunting or foraging for food but gradually switch to a agrarian settlement as and when the manpower and infrastructure allows you to. All the while you have various threats (in Rimworld that is) but your main fear is less being wiped out by a horde of naked archers and more failing to get the harvest in before winter.

It obviously didn't take me 12 months of playing to realise this, but I had hoped that it was part of the vision Tynan had for the game, especially when he mentioned developing late-game. But the changes that came out were of a very different nature, some I really liked (temperature for example), others I was less keen on (item quality particularly, aspects of the injury system too).

Eventually I just lost interest, having played the core game to death frankly, as the updates didn't seem to be adding to the longevity of the game - rather they just felt like additional layers of micromanagement to keep you busy/distracted.

What I'm wondering now, having been away for over a year, is whether the core of Rimworld has developed significantly or if it's still the same game from 2014 with a load of extra decoration hung on it. I still have very fond memories of playing Rimworld, but even if I were to go back to playing the previous versions I can't imagine playing them for more than a few hours before becoming bored again due to the shortcomings I mentioned.

[skullywag]

He recently stated on another thread:

https://ludeon.com/forums/index.php?topic=21277.0

referencing the late game that "I hear you - I think I've got a pretty decisive solution to this coming down the pipe. Currently targeting A16 (but not certain)."

[falcongrey]

He recently stated on another thread:

https://ludeon.com/forums/index.php?topic=21277.0

referencing the late game that "I hear you - I think I've got a pretty decisive solution to this coming down the pipe. Currently targeting A16 (but not certain)."

Not sure if that was talking about the end game stuff or if he was referencing the vehicles/wagons/carts/backpack stuff...

[Mutineer]

I just want to point out that is it natural to eventually loose interest on the game.

We are human been who is governed by un satisfaction. End game, by default would be a bit artificial anyway on this kind of game. Righ now it is trying to survive why at the same time get enough steel for ship.
Some numbers are really make it simply harder to get steel so you need to survive waves of attacks longer.
Example, I melted new pristine mini gun and get 10 steel for that? Clearly attempt to make getting steel harder but by making functionality unusable. It is clear a way to make getting steel harder, or some one believe colony had to easy with steel, but done just by destroying part of the game. That one of beefs i have, because it left you feel cheated...

[Shurp]

Have you tried playing with modding to remove some of the artificial constraints on the game?  The population cap is the most obvious one.  Managing a larger colony of dozens of pawns will be a challenge in itself.  And it offers tactical opportunities when the raids show up. 

I only started playing at A12.  But it sounds like it's still the same basic game you were playing in A9, plus some additional options.  Which admittedly are entertaining options

[Mutineer]

Is such cap exist? A13 my colony hit 30 pop i believe.

[Gennadios]

The issues you mention are still there, but complaints are being heard and being handled piecemeal. Pretty much every alpha seems to add a bunch of new stuff, fix a portion of old complaints, and issues crop up with the new stuff that make the game hard to get back into after a week or two.

Still, every new release is at least two weeks worth of nonstop play, so next alpha will be worth a re-eval by OP.

[HammyTheHamster]

Thanks for the input gents, I'll have to keep an eye open to see what Tynan is referring to and how that pans out.